Ricky Schroder: ‘Why I Cursed God.’

Ricky Schroder, the actor who portrayed Dolly Parton‘s father–Robert Lee, in the singer’s Christmas special “Coat of Many Colors”, reveals the role was a hard hit on his life because it reminded him why he once cursed God. The actor lost one of his kids at an early age.

L-R: Cast member Jennifer Nettles, executive producer Dolly Parton, cast members Alyvia Lind, and Ricky Schroder participate in the NBC Universal “Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors” panel at the Television Critics Association.

“My wife had a six month miscarriage and it devastated me,” Schroder told The Christian Post, revealing intimate details about his own suffering and how he identifies with Dolly’s parents who mourned the death of their newborn son, Larry, who died the same day he was born, July 6, 1955.

“It set me on a tails spin for a couple of years,” he revealed.

“I shouldn’t have let myself grieve that much but I really did because I felt like I lost all of that potential in that little boy, everything that he would’ve had, everything that he would have done.”

At the height of his career in the late-’90s, Schroder’s wife Andrea suffered a miscarriage. Following the unfortunate event, the couple lost their fourth child just three months before her due date.

“I went through a lot of what Lee went through,” the 45-year-old New York native confessed, referring back to the script he received for the role of Dolly’s father.

“I cursed God when that happened — literally cursed Him — and it took a long time to get over that.”

“Coat of Many Colors” is a movie that tells a story of Dolly’s young ambitious life, and her dreams while growing up poor in a large loving family.